18m cars expected for festive rush

Sunday 21 January 2007 00:12 BST

The RAC predicts that 18 million cars will be on the road on Friday with 3pm the busiest time.

The Highways Agency is suspending roadworks on a number of motorway and major A-road sites in England over the holiday period, but roadworks remain on some key routes, including the M1 and M25, for safety reasons.

Around 16 million cars are expected to be on the roads on the second busiest days - December 27 and 28 - while Christmas Day will be relatively traffic-free with only four million cars likely.

The RAC has forecast that rising fuel prices will mean a reduction in road usage this Christmas.

A record 3.5 million Britons will be heading abroad for Christmas.

Spain's Canary Islands are high on the list of destinations of those travelling overseas during the festive period, travel association Abta said.

Egypt, Goa and Dubai are also proving popular, while many skiers are heading for the slopes in France, Austria and Italy.

Top city-break destinations include Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and New York.

Abta said the busiest day for overseas travel will be Saturday, followed by December 30 when people head off for New Year's Eve celebrations abroad.

Between Friday and January 2, a total of 1.2 million passengers are expected to leave from Heathrow airport in west London.